Photo Critiqing Thread

[Clark White]

I took this one today at the Grand Canyon and it is whoopin my butt. It was an overcast day, so lighting was generally poor to begin with, but I can't help but feel this could be made to be a nice shot by someone who knows what they are doing in photoshop. I'm using CS5:

Original with no editing.


My edit. I just don't like it. The pink of her fleece makes my brain hurt if it is any brighter, but I don't like it toned down either. Her face seems too bright, but when I try to make it less spot lightish then it immediately looks shadowed and grey.


Thanks for any help!!!

Clark White

P.S. I just noticed that the colors in the PSD version are better when viewed in PS then the JPG version loaded on here, but the same complaints still apply to the PSD.

 

[Mr. Leary]

I'm going to follow Aaron's lead. Here is one that never really felt quite all there for me. I juxtaposed two people walking with a no parking sign and dragged the shutter to imply movement but it never resonated loud enough to be much more than just a nice shot. I know what the biggest problem is, it's the light, it's flat and boring. Still, does anyone feel there is anything that can be done to save the shot?

Where did you take that pic, Trevor? Cuba?

That is a proprietary paver design... I didn't think my company had ever sold it outside of the States and Europe!

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Where did you take that pic, Trevor? Cuba?

That is a proprietary paver design... I didn't think my company had ever sold it outside of the States and Europe!

Cubans have been coming up with designs we American's use for a long time...HAHA!! Just kidding

 

[Lost Canadian]

Where did you take that pic, Trevor? Cuba?

That is a proprietary paver design... I didn't think my company had ever sold it outside of the States and Europe!

Bolivia.

 

[Mr. Leary]

Bolivia.

Hmmmmm....

Thats so weird. I handle 100% of international shipping... and I have not sent anything to Bolivia... ever. The design is called Maxlock. Its a fantastic paver for longevity due to the robust contact pattern, but it usually gets installed in a herringbone pattern. Wierd.

Sorry to hijack and paver techno-babble.

Meanwhile back at the ranch...

 

[photoman]

I took this one today at the Grand Canyon and it is whoopin my butt. It was an overcast day, so lighting was generally poor to begin with, but I can't help but feel this could be made to be a nice shot by someone who knows what they are doing in photoshop. I'm using CS5:

Original with no editing.



Thanks for any help!!!

Clark White

P.S. I just noticed that the colors in the PSD version are better when viewed in PS then the JPG version loaded on here, but the same complaints still apply to the PSD.

Took your shot from the forum and dropped it into CS4.

Brightened midtones
Hue/Saturation (select Red- saturate and darken)
Hue/Saturation (select Yellow- saturate)
Dodge tool to brighten her eyes
Healing brush to lighten some of the blotches around her mouth.

2 mins. worth of editing.

 

[Pax2525]

Pics

Here are a few I've shot. I am very amateur playing with a slr

 

[Clark White]

Took your shot from the forum and dropped it into CS4.

Brightened midtones
Hue/Saturation (select Red- saturate and darken)
Hue/Saturation (select Yellow- saturate)
Dodge tool to brighten her eyes
Healing brush to lighten some of the blotches around her mouth.

2 mins. worth of editing.

Thanks!!!

 

[Conrad_Turbo]

One I took at Tulum near Cancun.

 

[Tucson T4R]

That doesn't need any critiquing. That's just plain cool! Nice shot.:wings:

 

[Sexy6Chick]

Man that iguana's got the best seat in the house! Awesome shot!

 

[Ford Prefect]

Took your shot from the forum and dropped it into CS4.

Brightened midtones
Hue/Saturation (select Red- saturate and darken)
Hue/Saturation (select Yellow- saturate)
Dodge tool to brighten her eyes
Healing brush to lighten some of the blotches around her mouth.

2 mins. worth of editing.

Wow, you sure pulled the eyes out from under that hood!

Very nice

 

[Mr. Leary]

Ok. So this was an AMAZING sunrise, but I can't get this pic to come out well. I snapped a couple after the sun came up a little higher and lost all contrast. Anyone have any advice for saving this pic?

 

[Tucson T4R]

Ok. So this was an AMAZING sunrise, but I can't get this pic to come out well. I snapped a couple after the sun came up a little higher and lost all contrast. Anyone have any advice for saving this pic?

Were you shooting JPG or RAW when you took this shot? If RAW then you may be able to recover some of the blown highlights and certainly improve the clarity and contrast using Lightroom.

The same steps can be attempted on a JPG image, you just don't have the same range of adjustments before the image falls apart. :sombrero:

If you send me a full size version I'll see what I can do in Lightroom and send it back to you.

 

[Photog]

Mr Leary,
I grabbed your image, and using Photoshop, I added 3 adjustment layers. The 1st layer is Saturation - increased saturation to bring the bold sunset colors up.
2nd layer is Levels - I brought the dark-side down, increasing contrast in the shadows. Then I added a mask, and masked out the foreground, to retain details.
3rd layer is Levels - I brought the mid tones up, to lighten the foreground, to increase detail further. Then I added a mask, and masked out the sky, to keep the bold colors and contrast.

This keeps the sky strong, and makes the foreground seem to be lit by the sky, instead of looking like a silhouette. This would look better, if I had a RAW file to work with.

It is a beautiful sunset, with an interesting foreground. The skyline is level enough, you may have been able to use a soft-edge, neutral-density filter, to tame the contrast between the sky and foreground.